Lemon Anise Snowflakes

Here is the shaping of the 6-section snowflake and 12-section rosette loaves. For the recipe, go back to page 1.

For both of these shapes, the cutting should be done with a straight, rigid piece of metal or plastic. Press straight down through the dough, guillotine-style. Do not try to drag a blade through the dough. A dough scraper works for larger cuts; for smaller ones I used a square-ended metal spatula, and for tiny ones the square handle end of a metal measuring spoon.

I suggest shaping each loaf directly on a piece of parchment paper half the size of your sheet pan. This way you can transfer it, parchment and all, to the pan without distorting the shape.

For the 6-section loaf, use one piece of dough at 300 – 350 grams.

After shaping the dough into a ball and resting for about, 20 minutes, flatten the dough, seam-side-down, into a disc about 3/4-inch in thickness. Cut the disc into six sections, leaving them connected at the center.

Pull the sections outward to separate and elongate them a little. Make a cut through the center of each section; don’t cut all the way through to the edge.

Use your fingers to open the cuts and push the edges of the sections a bit inward, like this:

It’s not shown in the photo, but I also made six tiny cuts in the center of the snowflake, in a star-shaped arrangement.

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For the 12-spoke rosette, use three pieces of dough at 100 grams each, and one at 60 grams. Shape each piece into a ball and let rest for 20 minutes.

Shape each of the three 100-gram balls into a torpedo shape about 8 inches long. (Yes, I do know there are more than three in this picture.)

With firm pressure, roll the side of your hand back and forth a few times in the center of each torpedo to divide it into two teardrop-shaped pieces. Arrange the six teardrops like this:

Make a cut down the center of each section, leaving the section connected at the end. Use your fingers to open the sections.

Press the 60-gram ball of dough firmly down in the center…

… and make three cuts (intersecting at their centers) in this center section. These cuts will help the dough stick to itself in the next step.

Fold the tip of each section back to the center, pressing down firmly where they meet os they do not fly up during baking.

When you take the loaf out of the refrigerator for its final proof, it is helpful to once again press down firmly in the center to be sure they don’t become unattached.

What an amazingly tempting creation .
I am new to baking breads and have baked a brioche recipe once .
I am interested in baking this lovely creation but cant get my hands on SAF Gold . ( have to substitute )how much would 30 percent of a pinch be ? about 3 pinches ???
would appreciate your help on this as i am quite confused .

WOW – gorgeous!! Just found your blog the other night while searching the web for panettone related things- I had a LONG look at all of your steps to making a good one and I’m following some of them – I didn’t find your recipe from the beginning of my process, so I’ll see how it comes out-
Thanks for all the info about it…
Merry Christmas to you and your family…
Leesa

Hey Susan!
The snowflakes look great and I want to try it. But I think I’ll need your help. In Germany I cannot find osmotolerant yeast. Instead of instant yeast, I usually use fresh yeast. Can you say how much I have to take?
Best wishes from Germany
Claudi

It occurs to me now (BEFORE having left it in the oven with the light turned on overnight in hopes that it would double) to ask if the dough should have done much of anything after this step before shaping: “Cover and ferment for about an hour at room temperature.”

It did double overnight and I’ve just now shaped it. I’m wondering now if I should just go ahead and bake it after it rests covered for an hour or so in the oven with only the light turned on. ie: are the snowflakes likely to get much larger than they are now?

I’ve had my eye on this recipe for a while and have been meaning to try them. As today is Epiphany and I told my German husband that I would make him a Dreikoenigskuchen, I decided that I would try this recipe with a couple of tweaks. The tweaks being the addition of 100 g of raisins (soaked in a bit of rum, of course), the substitution of cardamom for the anise seed, orange syrup for the lemon and I used fresh yeast. Fantastic! The texture was beautiful! Absolutely lovely. Although, I think I would add more peel, orange and lemon next time. Thank you for such a wonderful recipe.

I love your website. Thank you for sharing your adventures with bread. I started my first apple levain for sourdough. 10 days waiting seems a loong time. All enthused I saw this recipe and thought I’d take up the challenge. After many happy hours in the kitchen following your careful directions we enjoyed lovely (extra) french baguettes as well as top-billing glamorous snowflakes (x2). The Lemon, Ginger & Anise combination seemed perhaps a risk, but nothing to fear, the delicate flavours in the buttery smooth textured crumb taste fantastic! Thanks again.

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[…] what fun I had today! I put together two starters: one for Susan’s (Wild Yeast) Lemon Anise Snowflakes (so I can use up all that syrup created when candying orange and lemon peel for BBB stollen) and […]